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Since President Obama decided not to support the rebels fighting Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, a handful of Saudi religious figures have taken matters into their own hands.

None of this would be particularly bad (especially considering Washington continues to sit on the fence), except that one of the conduits for the Saudi donations is the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society of Kuwait, which was designated by the United States (2008) and the United Nations (2002) as a terrorist entity for arming and financing al Qaeda. The group’s involvement is particularly alarming in light of reports that al Qaeda’s presence among the Syrian rebels is growing fast.

The campaign represents a u-turn of sorts for some clerics. In March 2011, just over a month after Egyptians deposed long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak, Bureik, called for “smashing the skulls” of any Saudis who might get ideas from the Egyptian example and demonstrate against the throne in Riyadh.

Now, Bureik exhorts his followers to take action against Assad. To inspire them, he began trumpeting the stream of donations coming in to the campaign on his Facebook page. On May 30, he announced that he and his family were donating around $25,000 to the FSA, and that one of his sons was traveling to Kuwait (where the RIHS is based, incidentally) to deliver the money in person. He even relayed the touching story of a cancer-stricken woman who selflessly donated more than $1,000 to the Syrian rebels.

While bringing down the Assad regime is in the national interest of both Saudi Arabia and the United States, the role of the Saudis should be cause for concern. As was the case during the Saudi’s 2000-2005 campaign in support of the Palestinian intifada that funneled funds to the families of suicide bombers, this campaign could also spawn terrorism.

The fact that the clerics are channeling money to a group so closely associated with al Qaeda is an obvious red flag. Additionally, the mere influence of Saudi cash—and the Wahhabi doctrine attached to it—heightens the risk that the conflict in Syria will become more sectarian in nature.